Stacking conveyor for books and the like



May 24, 1955 R. M. PAYNE 2,708,863

STACKING CONVEYOR FOR BOOKS AND THE LIKE Filed July 3, 1951 5Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY.

May 24, 1955 R M PAUNE 2,708,863

STACKING CONVEYOR FOR BOOKS AND THE LIKE Filed July 5, 1951 3Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

May 24, 1955 R. M. PAYNE STACKING CONVEYOR FOR BOOKS AND THE LIKE 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 5, 1951 TOR. W

United States Patent:

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STACKENG CGNVEYOR FOR BOOKS AND Tl-lELl-KE Richard M. Payne, Chicago,Ill., assignor to American Colortype Company, Chicago, 11]., acorporation of Illinois Applicah'on July 3, 1951, Serial "No. 234,979

1-1 Claims. ((31. 9393) This invention relates to a-stacking conveyorfor books and the like, and more particularly to a conveyor forreceiving books from a binding machine and arranging the books'inregular stacks for shipping or storage.

Books such as magazines, pamphlets, and the like, are

stapled or otherwise bound in a binding machine and are i Another objectis to provide a stacking conveyor in wh'ich the books are initiallypositioned on the conveyor in fanned out overlapping relations'liipandare then pushed into "uniform stacks.

Still another object is to provide a stacking conveyor inwhich arotating starting wheel engages the trailing edge of books fed onto theconveyor and gives them an initial feeding movement in the direction ofconveyor travel. This insures that the books will be uniformly fannedout on the conveyor so that they can properlybe stacked with nopossibility of bending or .crump'ling.

A further object ,is to provide a stacking conveyor in which the booksare pushed into .a stack by a pusher finger having an angular upward andforward movement to carry the books from their fanned out relation intoa straight stack.

A still further object .is to provide a stacking conveyor whichautomatically operates to carry out stacking cycles in automaticsuccession.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will be morereadily apparent when read in connection with the accompanying drawings,in .which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a stacking conveyor .embodying theinvention;

Figure 2.is a side elevation;

-F i gure 3 is a partial transverse section;

Figure 4 is a partial transverse section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3;and

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of the control system.

The stacking conveyor as shown isadapted to receive books individuallyfrom a binding machine indicated generally at 10, from which books, asindicated at 11, arefed horizontally, bound edge first. As seen inFigure 2, the books pass over guide rails 12 in moving out of thebinding machine and each bookas it is fed from the machine trips theswitch 13 which counts the books.

The conveyor comprises a frame which includes a plurality of elongatedhorizontally extending bars 14 spaced above the floor and at aconvenient distance below the discharge level of the binding machine. Atthe side adjacent to the binding machine, a plate '15 extends upwardfrom the frame to terminate just below the level at which the booksleave the binding machine and at the ice opposite side of the conveyor astop plate 16 extends up ward from the frame to a level such that itwill engage books fed from the binding machine and cause them to droponto the conveyor. The plates 15' and 1-6 are preferably spaced adistance very slightly greater than the width of the books to .bestacked so that the books will feed closely between them and will beaccurately positioned on the conveyor thereby.

To move the books the conveyor includes a travelling tape 17 on each ofthe bars 14, the tapes being caused .to move longitudinally of the barsby suitable driving wheels at the ends of the conveyor as shown at 13.One or both of the driving wheels 18 may .be driven by a motor 19through a gear reducer 21 and a sprocket chain 22. It will be understoodthat the tapes are endless loops continuously moving over .the top ofthe beams from left to right as seen in Figures .1 and 2 and looped oversuitable guide rollers 23 tov guide them in the desired pathof travel.

Movement of books on the conveyor at the feeding station adjacent to thebinding machine is limited by one or more stop fingers 24 which extendupward between adjacent bars 14 into the path of the books on theconveyor. As shown, the stop fingers are angularly formed and arepivoted at their rear ends to a cross piece .25 carried by the bars. Twoor more stop fingers 24 may be provided which are connected to bemovedsimultaneously .by a fluid motor 25. Normally the stop fingers lie inthe position shown to engage and stop the books on the conveyor and canbe moved .to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 3 to allow thebooks to travel with theconveyor.. When the books are held againstmovement by the stop fingers, the conveyor tapes simply slide underthem, the conveyor being continuously in motion.

In order to insure that books fed onto the conveyor at the feedingstation will be arranged in the desired fanned out relationship, astarting wheel is provided to engage and start the books. As shown, thiscomprises a wheel 26 projecting above .the top of the conveyor betweentwo adjacent bars 14 with its upper surface moving in the direction ofconveyor travel. The starter wheel is rotatably supported at the ends ofarms 27 which are pivoted on brackets 28 posterior from the feedingstation. To .turn the wheel, drive rollers 29 are rotatably supported-on the'arms 27 to engage adjacent conveyor tapes and are geared to thestarting wheel to turn it. Proper engagement of the books with thestarting wheel is :insured by a guide plate 31 projecting above theconveyor at the posterior end of the feeding station to guide the booksso that their rear edges will strike the top of the starting wheel.

As each book is fed onto the conveyor, its rear edge will strike thestarting wheel and itwill be given an initial urge in the direction oftravel of the conveyor. Since books are fed individually as the conveyortravels they tend to overlap each other in a fanned out relationship asillustrated and after several books have been so stacked there is atendency for a book fed from the binding machine to slide oil of thestack. The starting wheel prevents this tendency and gives each book aninitial movement so that the books will be held uniformly and properlyoverlapped withno possibility of any one book becoming crumpled when thestack is completed.

Toform the books into uniform stacks, pusher fingers are provided toengage the rear edges of the fanned out books and push them into astraight stack against the stop .fingers. As best seen .in Figure 3, thepusher fingers are shaped as bell cranks 32 so that the forward portionsthereof can project vertically through the spaces between adjacent bars.Preferably, at least two pusher fingers are provided which are pivotedat their rear ends on a travelling block 33 and which are interconnectedat their front ends for movement together. As shown in Figure 4 thetravelling block 33 is elongated transversely of the frame and issupported for sliding movement on the frame by roller assemblies 34which fit into the channel shaped bars 14 to be supported for slidingmovement thereby. Between adjacent bars 14, the block 33 has upwardlyextending cars 35 between which the pusher fingers are pivotallymounted. The block 33 is moved longitudinally of the frame when desiredby a fluid motor 36 which functions both to advance the block in thedirection of conveyor travel and to retract it to its starting position.

To guide the pusher fingers for simultaneous upward and longitudinalmovement, guide brackets 37 are pro vided lying beneath the frame andengageable with rollers or pins 38 on the pusher fingers. The pusherfingers normally lie in the position shown in full lines in Figure 3with the pins 38 held against the upper rail of the brackets 37 bysprings 39 so that when the pusher fingers are moved to the right thepins 38 will enter the brackets. As the pusher fingers move to the rightthey will gradually rise, due to the slope of the brackets 37, so thatthey will raise the rear edges of the stacked books and will push thebooks forward into a uniform stack against the stop fingers 24. Thepusher fingers are then in the position as shown at 32a in Figure 3. Atthis time the pusher fingers are held up only by engagement with thestacked books and when the stacked books move away from them, they willdrop down to the position shown at 321) against the horizontal guidemember 41. When the block 33 is retracted to the starting position, thepusher fingers will be drawn back along the horizontal guide 41 untilthey engage the springs 39 which will raise them to their startingposition in alignment with the brackets 37 ready for a stackingoperation.

The operations are automatically controlled by a control circuit, asbest seen in Figure 5. As shown, an electrical circuit is employed,including a monitor unit 42 which is connected to the switch 13 toreceive pulses therefrom. The unit 42 can be set to close a switch aftera predetermined number of pulses and to hold the switch closed for apredetermined interval. The monitor unit is connected to a solenoidoperator 43 for a four-way valve 44 having ports connected to theopposite ends of the fluid motor 36 and supply and vent ports connectedto a source of compressed air or the like through a supply pipe 45 andto vent through a vent pipe 46. A similar valve 47 connected to the samesupply and vent source is provided to control the fluid motor 25. Thevalve 47 is controlled by a solenoid 48 connected to a voltage sourcethrough a switch 49 or a switch 51 which are in parallel. The switch 49,as shown in Figures 2 and 3 is positioned to be engaged by the block 33when it is in its forward stacking position. The switch 51 is mountedbetween adjacent frame bars immediately downstream from the stop fingers24 to be engaged and closed by the stack of books on the conveyordownstream from the stop fingers.

When the monitor unit 42 is in a condition to' open the circuit to thesolenoid 43, the parts willoccupy the position shown in Figure 5 whichis their normal position during the time that books are being fed ontothe conveyor. As soon as a certain predetermined number of books havebeen fed to the conveyor, the monitor unit will close the circuit to thesolenoid 43 and move the valve 44 to a position such that air will besupplied to the left end of the fluid motor 36 and the right end thereofwill be vented. At this time, the block 33 and the pusher fingers 32will be moved to the right to push the books into a uniform stackagainst the stop fingers 24.

When the pusher fingers reach their extreme right hand position, theblock 33 will engage and close the switch 49 to enegize the solenoid 48,thereby to supply fluid to the upper end of the motor 25 and to vent thelower end thereof. At this time, the motor 25' will swing the stopfingers downward out of the path of the books on 4 the conveyor so thatthe stacked books will travel with the conveyor toward the end thereofto a convenient packing station. As soon as the books pass the stopfinger, they will engage and close the switch 51.

At this point in the cycle the monitor unit will open the circuit to thesolenoid 43 so that the valve 44 will return to its initial positionunder the influence of gravity or a spring or both. The block 33 and thepusher fingers 32 will therefore be retracted to their initial positionready for a subsequent operation and the switch 49 will open. Thesolenoid 48 will, however, be kept energized by the switch 51 until thestack of books has passed the switch so that the stop fingers will notbe moved up under a stack of books. As soon as the books have passed theswitch 51, it will open to deenergize the solenoid 48, whereupon thevalve 47 will return to its initial position and reverse the motor 25 sothat it will push the stop fingers up to their effective position.

The speed of the conveyor is preferably set so that in counting a givennumber of books, the first book will reach the stop finger at about thesame time the last book is delivered from the binding machine. Thus,while a number of books which have been fanned out on the conveyor arebeing stacked, books can continue to feed individually from the bindingmachine at a uniform rate without interfering with the first stack. Bythe time the first book of a succeeding stack has been moved by theconveyor to the stacking position, the first stack will be out of theway and the stop fingers will have been moved back to their effectiveposition to stop the first book of the next succeeding stack. With thisconstruction, delivery of books by the binding machine is not interferedwith and the books are received on the conveyor and uniformly stacked instacks, each containing a predetermined number of books rapidly andeffectively.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described indetail, it will be understood that this is illustrative only and not tobe taken as a definition of the scope of the invention, reference beinghad for this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A stacking conveyor for books and the like comprising an elongatedtraveling conveyor adapted to receive individual books at one position,a stop adjacent to the conveyor at a point spaced from said position inthe direction of travel of the conveyor to stop the movement of books onthe conveyor, a circular starting wheel having its upper surfaceprojecting above the conveyor at the upstream end of said position toreceive on its upper surface the trailing edge of a book fed onto theconveyor at said position and give the book an initial urge in thedirection of conveyor travel and means to drive the starting wheel in adirection such that its upper surface travels in the same direction asthe conveyor.

2. A stacking conveyor for books and the like comprising an elongatedtraveling conveyor adapted to receive individual books at one position,a stop adjacent to the conveyor at a point spaced from said position inthe direction of travel of the conveyor to stop the movement of books onthe conveyor, a circular starting Wheel having its upper surfaceprojecting above the conveyor at the upstream end of said position toreceive on its upper surface the trailing edge of a book fed onto theconveyor at said positionand give the book an initial urge in thedirection of conveyor travel, and a driving wheel engaging the conveyorto be driven thereby and connected to the starting wheel-to drive it ina direction such that its upper surface travels in the same direction asthe conveyor.

3. A stacking conveyor for books and the like comprising an elongatedtraveling conveyor adapted to receive individual books at one position,a stop adjacent to the conveyor at a point spaced from said position inthe direction of travel of the conveyor to stop the movement of books onthe conveyor, a circular starting wheel projecting above the conveyor attheupstream end of said position to receive on its upper surface thetrailing edge of a book fed onto the conveyor atsa'id position and givethe book an initial urge in the direction of conveyor travel, a pushermovable in the direction of conveyor travel to push the books into astack against the stop, means to move the pusher periodically toward thestop, and means operable after movement of the pusher to move the stopaway from the conveyor whereby the stacked books can move with theconveyor.

4. A stacking conveyor for books and the like comprising an elongatedtraveling conveyor adapted to receive individual books at a feedingstation, a stop finger movably mounted adjacent to the conveyordownstream from the feeding station and normally lying in a position tostop books on the conveyor, a pusher finger normally positioned upstreamfrom the feeding station, power means to move the pusher finger in thedirection of travel of the conveyor to push the books on the conveyorinto a stack against the stop finger, control means for the power meansto initiate operation thereof after a predetermined number of books havebeen placed on the conveyor, a second power means connected to the stopfinger to move it out of the path of the books on the conveyor, a firstcontrol device for the second power means operated by the pusher fingeras it moves in the direction of travel of the conveyor, and a secondcontrol device for the second power means operated by books on theconveyor moving beyond the stop finger.

5. A stacking conveyor for books and the like comprising an elongatedtraveling conveyor adapted to receive individual books at a feedingstation, a stop finger movably mounted adjacent to the conveyordownstream from the feeding station and normally lying in the path ofmovement of the books on the conveyor to stop them, a pusher fingernormally lying upstream of the feeding station and below the conveyor,power means to move the pusher finger in the direction of travel of theconveyor, guide means to raise the pusher finger above the conveyor asit is moved by the power means, control means for the power means toinitiate operation thereof after a predetermined number of books havebeen placed on the conveyor, a second power means connected to the stopfinger to move it out of the path of the books on the conveyor, andcontrol means for the second power means operable by the pusher fingerafter the pusher finger has moved the books against the stop finger.

6. A stacking conveyor for books and the like comprising an elongatedtraveling conveyor adapted to receive individual books at a feedingstation, a stop finger movi ably mounted adjacent to the conveyordownstream from the feeding station and normally lying in the path ofmovement of the books on the conveyor to stop them, a circular startingwheel projecting above the conveyor at the upstream end of the feedingstation to receive on its upper surface the trailing edge of a book fedonto the conveyor and give it an initial urge in the direction ofconveyor travel and means to move the stop finger periodically out ofthe path of books on the conveyor.

7. A stacking conveyor for books and the like comprising a frameincluding a series of elongated parallel bars, traveling conveyor tapessupported by the bars to receive individual books at a feeding station,a stop finger projecting between adjacent bars downstream from thefeeding station to stop movement of books on the conveyor tapes, apusher frame slidably mounted on the bars and normally lying upstreamfrom the feeding station, means to move the pusher frame in thedirection of conveyor travel, an angular pusher finger pivoted on thepusher frame and having a finger at one end normally lying below thebars and adapted to project upward between adjacent bars to engage thebooks and push them toward the stop finger, and an inclined guideengageable with the pusher finger to swing it upward as the pusher frameis moved in the direction of conveyor travel.

8. A stacking conveyor for books and the 'like' comprising a frameincluding a series of elongated parallel bars,'-traveling conveyor tapessupported by the bars to receive individual books at a feeding station,a stop finger projecting between adjacent bars downstream from thefeeding station to stop movement of books on the conveyor tapes, apusher frame slidably mounted on the bars and normally lying upstreamfrom the feeding station, means to move the pusher frame in thedirection of conveyor travel, an angular pusher finger pivoted on thepusher frame and having a finger at one end normally lying below thebars and adapted to project upward between adjacent bars to engage thebooks and push them toward the stop finger, and an inclined guideengageable with the pusher finger to swing it upward as the pusher frameis moved in the direction of conveyor travel, a starting wheelprojecting above the conveyor at the upstream end of the feeding stationto engage the trailing edge of a book fed onto the conveyor and give itan initial urge in the direction of conveyor travel, power means to movethe stop finger downward out of the path of books on the conveyor, afirst control for the power means operated by the pusher frame as itmoves in the direction of travel of the conveyor, and a second controlfor the power means operated by movement of books on the conveyor movingdownstream of the stop finger.

9. A stacking conveyor for books and the like comprising a travelingconveyor adapted to receive individual books at a feeding station, astop adjacent to the conveyor at a point spaced from the feeding stationin the direction of travel of the conveyor to stop the movement of bookson the conveyor, 21 pusher normally positioned upstream of the feedingstation and movable in the direction of conveyor travel to push thebooks into a stack against the stop, a counting device responsive to thebooks fed onto the conveyor at the feeding station, means controlled bythe counting device after a predetermined number of operations thereofto move the pusher toward the stop, and means operated by the pusherafter a predetermined movement thereof toward the stop to move the stopout of the path of movement of books on the conveyor.

10. A stacking conveyor for books and the like comprising a travelingconveyor adapted to receive individual books at a feeding station, astop adjacent to the conveyor at a point spaced from the feeding stationin the direction of travel of the conveyor to stop the movement of bookson the conveyor, a pusher normally positioned upstream of the feedingstation and movable in the direction of conveyor travel to push thebooks into a stack against the stop, a counting device responsive to thebooks fed onto the conveyor at the feeding station, means controlled bythe counting device after a predetermined number of operations thereofto move the pusher toward the stop, means operated by the pusher after apredetermined movement thereof toward the stop to move the stop out ofthe path of movement of books on the conveyor, and means operated bybooks on the conveyor downstream of the stop to maintain the stop out ofthe path of movement of the books.

11. A stacking conveyor for books and the like comprising a travelingconveyor adapted to receive individual books at a feeding station, astop adjacent to the conveyor at a point spaced from the feeding stationin the direction of travel of the conveyor to stop the movement of bookson the conveyor, a pusher normally positioned upstream of the feedingstation and movable in the direction of conveyor travel to push thebooks into a stack against the stop, a starter wheel extending above theconveyor at the upstream side of the feeding station, means to drive thestarter wheel in a direction such that its upper surface moves in thesame direction as the conveyor, a counting device response to the booksfed onto the conveyor at the feeding station, means controlled by thecounting device after a predetermined number of operations thereof tomove the pusher toward the stop, and means operated by the pusher aftera predetermined movement thereof toward the stop to move the stop out ofthe path of movement of books on the conveyor.

References Cited in the file of this patent 8 Olsen May 15, 1928Beveridge July 10, 1928 Peterson Jan. 14, 1941 Harred July 15, 1947FOREIGN PATENTS France Apr. 5, 1938

